After trying to show dominance by accidentally displaying his family jewels, the aliens left looking relatively unfazed. Gabriel sighed before covering up and walking back to his bed and bowl of food, “Well that didn’t work, why did I even say I was from Earth, they kidnapped me, surely they know where I’m from.” He shook his head and grabbed the bowl again sniffing at it. It didn’t really smell like anything which he found almost impressive. He ate some more of the blue goop, “It must take a master to make something so tasteless”

He found Madeline looking at him in disbelief when he looked up. “Why did you try and aggravate our captors?”

Gabriel sighed and lowered his bowl “I don’t know, I just wanted some answers, and I was a bit angry about the whole zapping business” Gabriel shrugged “Sorry about that”

Madeline sighed and tried a human smile, with turned into her just showing her teeth. “I sort of understand, and I can't blame you. I did so twice after all, but I told you about it so I just wondered why you tried.”

Gabriel smiled back. “So you are not angry or anything?”

“No, more surprised, mostly how you weren't affected by the stun rod”

Gabriel shrugged “I can’t help you with that, all this is new to me, human biology maybe?” Madeline looked thoughtful but said no more. Daniel ate some more goop and tried one of the yellow chunks “Seriously, this has the consistency of tofu but tastes of nothing, how is this possible?” Madeline let out what sounded like a mix between giggling and chirping while her head feathers stood on edge. Gabriel felt his eyebrows rise in confusion.

“Oh, that was me showing humor, like your barking” She flattened her feathers.

“Barking? Oh, laughing, yeah I guess it might sound similar.” Gabriel begrudgingly finished the attempt at food and washed it down with the water from the cup. He glanced down into it, and then to Madeline “I hope there were no drugs in the water”

Madeline looked into her own cup and sniffed at it. “They can just administer drugs through the ventilation” She then drained her cup.

“Really?” Gabriel looked up at the vents.

“Yeah, I have been here for probably a week,” Madeline said sadly and sighed “They threatened to drug me a few times but so far have not.”

“Do you know why we are here? or why are you here?”

Madeline put down her bowl, “After they brought you here I’ve been thinking, you were sleeping for half a day which gave me some time. They gave me this translator shortly after they took you on board I think, so my theory is that I am just a sacrificial subject so they can learn more about you”

“So you think they planned on kidnapping a human before they kidnapped you?”

She flexed her feathers in what Gabriel assumed was confirmation. “I think so, my race is very new to space so if they wanted ransom, why would they travel so far from my home?”

“Hm, and they placed us here to see if I decided to try and eat you or whatever nonsense”

Madeline flexed her feathers again. “That’s what I think at least”

“It makes sense sort of, are your planet the closest to here, I mean Earth? We might be halfway across the galaxy at this point”

“I don’t know, only a few hundred Zilgi have been off my planet, I don’t know where Earth is”

“Are you someone important, can we hope for someone to send a rescue party?” Gabriel asked “Because I’m not, and of course humans don’t have FTL yet so it would not matter either way”

Madeline hesitated before her feathers rippled quickly once “I am the daughter of a Zilgi emissary but there are hundreds in the same position so I don’t have high hopes, considering the help would have to come from other races.”

“So we can’t just hope for a swift rescue then” Gabriel stood up and paced while he tried to think of a plan, “So what do we do now? I guess I’m not getting dissected and studied, not yet anyway. If that was the case they could have kept me sleeping until we reached a lab or something” He turned to Madeline. “So why do they want to study how I act?” She squinted and looked thoughtful. Gabriel continued, “Does this happen often? and if it does, what happens to the victims?”

“I don’t know about often, but I have heard rumors of some lesser races being sold as pets” She looked up and quickly added, “I did not mean you were a lesser race, just that maybe they can convince others of it, I meant no offense”

Gabriel just waved his hand “No offense taken, so they are checking if I’m a pet?”

“Maybe?”

“Fantastic,” Gabriel said with a sigh, he got a confused look from Madeline. “You don’t have sarcasm in space? Wait, is that sarcasm, or am I mixing it up with something else?” He shook his head. “Nevermind, I meant the opposite”

Madeline looked even more confused “I don’t think I understand, Is it a joke?”

“Yeah, close enough, although plenty of humans use sarcasm to hide insults in compliments, you can tell by my tone of voice usually. I should have paid more attention in school, I don’t really know how to explain it.”

“Oh, that I understand, compliments meaning insults. Very popular in the fancy dinners I had to follow my mother to, or maybe it was just me.”

“Oh, you have those too?, I was never in a position to go to those dinners, except once when a cousin won an award. I know how you feel, I think.” He waved his hand dismissively before realizing the gesture probably didn’t translate. “Anyway onto our immediate problem”

He stopped and closed his eyes trying to come up with a plan, which proved quite difficult. “I should have watched more sci-fi movies, I don’t know what will happen to us so I’m having trouble planning.” He turned to Madeline after a moment. “I don’t understand why you were taken unless you were somewhere convenient to pick up a test subject no one could find. And me they are going to sell probably”

“That's...not entirely unlikely, yes that might be the case. Then we are heading for one or another black market”

“And I don’t suppose you know where any of them are?”

“No, I have only heard rumors”

“And are black markets not illegal?”

“Yes, but space is vast, it’s impossible to find them all, some take place on ships as well I’ve heard”

“Well...great” Gabriel scratched his head “That’s more sarcasm. If I’m to be sold, what will happen to you?”

“...I don’t know, they might not need me anymore after selling you”

“Shit, well then, we are in this together so let’s cooperate,” Gabriel said, trying to sound confident.

“You think that will make a difference?”

Gabriel shrugged “Who knows, I’m planning on trying though. But I am still working on a plan, which now involves waiting until we land on a planet as I can’t fly this thing, presumably” He glanced over to Madeline “I don’t suppose you can?” Her feathers rippled once “No? worth a try, which means even if we broke out and took the ship we would need one of them to fly it. Anything to add?”

Madeline blinked and her feathers rippled a few times. “I don’t know anything about stuff like this.”

“To be honest neither do I, I just watch a lot of movies”

Madeline furrowed her brow “You sounded so sure”

“Fake it til you make it” Gabriel shrugged, “No, to be honest, I have some training if flunking out of military training counts.”

“Flunking out?”

“Yeah, I almost became a soldier believe it or not”

“What did you do back on Earth?”

“I fixed and sold electronics,” Gabriel shrugged again. “Still, any objections to the plan?”

“Wait until we land before doing anything? no, I don’t have any objections, It’s not like I can get out here on my own” Madeline looked frustrated and sighed. “It might be good to have the beginning of a plan when we do land.”

“Agreed, first of all, I was thinking of making some clothes” Gabriel walked into the bathroom and changed into a towel. “Would you mind using your claws to cut this?” He held out the bedsheet.

“My claws are not that sharp but I can try” She held up her foot.

Gabriel pressed the sheet against the large claw on her big toe and the sheet finally gave in and ripped. He cut a kind of T-shape and a small strip to use as a belt. “Thank you, now to see if I can make a loincloth out of this” He walked back into the bathroom for privacy and after several minutes managed to figure out how to wear it. Holding the cloth against the small of his back and tying the arms of the T-shape in front, pulling the remaining part between his legs and up inside the belt, he let the rest hang down over his front.

He walked out and smiled at Madeline. “So what do you think?”

“Very fashionable, can you make me one?”

“I see you are understanding sarcasm” Gabriel held up the remainder of his sheet, “And yeah I can, but we need to use your sheet”

“Alright,” Madeline went into her own bathroom and walked out wearing a towel. She gave Gabriel her bed sheet, then sat down holding up her foot once again. They managed to cut out a similar pattern in this one without any major problems.

“Right, so you have a tail and we need to figure out how to get this on” After a bit of measuring they cut a slit in the middle, right at the top.

“Now how do I wear this?” Madeline asked as she held up the fabric “And how did you know how to do this?”

“I was in a play in high school strangely enough, and let me show you” Gabriel tied the mangled sheet around himself going over the simple steps.

“Alright, I’ll give it a shot” She walked towards the bathroom before stopping, “I...would like something to cover my chest as well”

“Oh, right, of course. I’m no expert on that though, would a wide strip work?” He held up a piece of leftover from the carnage.

“It will have to” She took it and left the room, returning after several minutes changed. She held her arms to the side and spun around “Well?”

“Looked great, a real retro feel, I think it will catch on,” Gabriel said with a level expression.

Madeline looked at him for a moment, “More sarcasm?”

“Sarcasm” He confirmed.

She turned around, “The fabric around my tail is slipping out, can you help?”

“Sure, let me see” He walked over and grabbed the fabric, “Right, so the slit for your tail means you have to secure it better here than I do” He pulled up the fabric to fix it. When he did though her tail twitched and smacked him in the junk.

“Sorry!” Madeline said, “you surprised me a bit”

“...yeah, I’m sorry too, should have asked first, my bad” Gabriel grunted and pointedly stepped out of batting range before securing the fabric in place. “There you go, that should hold, but you need to be mindful of that, I don’t know how to prepare any clothes to accommodate tails or any at all beyond this.”

“This is more than I expected after waking up here, thank you”

“No problem” Gabriel looked at his bed then over to the window. “You think they are listening to us right now? Or watching?”

“Watching maybe but I don’t think listening, why listen if they are just going to ignore everything I said for a week”

“Good point” Gabriel walked over to the hidden door next to the window. “Hmm,” He knocked on the door. “Hello! anyone? we need more bedsheets!” He waited a minute or so before looking to Madeline and shrugging. Then he banged on the door hard, which shook satisfyingly and for good measure, he banged a fist on the window as well and was rewarded after a moment by three aliens scrambling into the room beyond the window brandishing stun rods.

“Ah, so you are not listening after all, good to know” He walked over and picked up a scrap of a bedsheet. “We need more sheets” He pointed at the scrap and held up two fingers. “Or I’ll tear down this ship piece by piece”.

The Quizeaterans looked at each other and then left the room. “Can you really tear the ship apart?” Madeline looked at him wide-eyed and sounded a bit apprehensive.

“Highly unlikely, just checking if bluffs work on these things” Gabriel shrugged. “But the door did not strike me as made of metal, maybe if I got a hold off some tools” He rubbed his chin feeling the stubble from a day not shaving, It had to be most of a day since he was kidnapped. Madeline said he was asleep for half a day, however long her days were.

While he was thinking a small hatch opened and two folded bedsheets slid through. “Hey, It worked!” Gabriel said surprised. He grabbed them and handed one to Madeline. “I half expected to be gassed or something”

“I can’t tell if you are smart or crazy,” Madeline said shaking her head, “Sorry I mean no offense” She quickly added.

“None, taken, and I think it’s a little of both. Thought maybe a bit more on the crazy side, or at least impulsive” They both fixed up their beds and sat down.

“So, what now?” Madeline asked after a few moments.

“I don’t know, scheme and plan our escape and wait?” Gabriel shrugged and laid down on the bed. “Maybe bother them some more and try to demand real clothes tomorrow, what time is it anyway?”

“I don’t know, they dim the lights when they sleep I think.”

“Right, well I’ll take a shower and think if you need anything just yell or something” Madeline’s head feathers rose up and Gabriel nodded to her before entering the bathroom.

The water quickly became warm enough to shower but still felt just above lukewarm. Gabriel stepped in and felt the water hit his face for a bit, he still felt numb to everything that had happened. He should be scared, being kidnapped by aliens trying to sell him, or even excited to have it confirmed that aliens existed. It didn't matter that he always believed in them like so many others, he might still be the first human to see one.

He really had begun to hope he was drugged somehow, and that he had not had his emotions damaged or something from being kidnapped. He sighed and turned off the shower, “I guess time will tell.” The lights dimmed in the bathroom as he was toweling off. “Well, that’s good timing.” He walked out to find Madeline still sitting on her bed knees up to her chest.

“You tired?” He asked her

Her feathers rippled once.

“Alright, same here, after all, I woke up two hours ago or something, you want to talk for a while?”

“Yes, can you tell me about Earth?”

Gabriel launched into a description about the climates and flora and fauna as accurately as he could before going over some basic history which was not one of his strong suits. Madeline, in turn, talked about her home planet, a pleasant planet with tropical climate but it often had strong storms along the coasts. They lived amongst a massive forest with threes the size of redwoods from what it sounded like with red bark and green leaves, matching Madeline’s feathers.

“Wait, do you have feathers or fur?” He asked when she explained her natural camouflage.

She leaned her head to the side then ran a hand over her head and one along her tail. She pulled away her hands to find a few feathers between her fingers. She held out the longest for Gabriel. “I call it fur, but humans might call it something else”

He accepted the strand or feather and examined it. The bottom towards the root felt like a bristle while the top part became smoother and flexible with small hairs on the sides like a feather. It was sort of a mix between the two. It looked like a feather but did not have the rigidity and felt like soft fur. “Huh, It’s like a mix, it is smooth though” He ran a finger over the feather, which he would call it for now at least.

“Thank you,” Madeline said, interrupting Gabriel's thoughts.

“Huh, what?” He looked up.

“Thank you for saying my fur is smooth” Madeline’s head feathers rose up.

“Uh, yes, you’re welcome,” Gabriel said with a smile

She blinked at his hesitation. “Oh, I’m sorry, of course, you don’t know about Zilgi customs, you probably...”

“Hey, Madeline, please tell me” He interrupted smiling at her.

“...It was just a nice thing to say, our fur can get matted quickly and can be hard to clean” She looked a bit embarrassed. “I just answered automatically”

“Well for what it’s worth from an alien savage your fur looks nice,” Gabriel said and grinned at her.

“Thank you, Gabriel, your fur looks nice too”

“Must be the alien shampoo, I’m normally a slob” He grinned at her again. She giggled or was it chirped at his joke. After a bit more conversation Madeline announced she was getting tired and they said goodnight, she laid down under her cover and Gabriel just lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, mostly trying to figure out a way out of here and getting nowhere. Eventually, he drifted off to sleep imagining Madeline’s home planet with towering red trees and tropical weather wondering if he would be able to see it sometime.