Despite his exhaustion, Techno barely slept at first.

He remained propped up against the wall, nodding off every now and again, but never for more than 20 minutes at a time. His hand remained tightly curled around Toby's, pressing his thumb up against his pulse point whenever he jerked out of a light sleep. His body was complaining with every movement, muscles aching from the lack of rest, but he remained stubborn until his body physically just gave out.

Fit was dealing with the whole situation a lot better than Techno. While the younger was a nervous wreck shaking with exhaustion but refusing to sleep, he maintained some sort of schedule and tried to keep himself busy. He would check on the burns every couple hours to make sure nothing was infected or opening up, coaxed some water into the unconscious boy to make sure his body stays hydrated and continued to fiddle with the radio for a while.

But he didn't just care for Toby, but for Techno as well. Hours after the rescue, when the sun was already up again, he had to practically force feed the younger with what was left of their rations, both food and water. Techno didn't have the energy to protest after the third attempt and just accepted defeat.

When the younger did end up sleeping a bit longer, body just shutting down entirely, Fit did his best to cover the lights of the pod and not disturb him. He nodded off soon after, despite his plan to have some sort of guard schedule where at least one of them would be awake in case Toby ended up waking up.

Which didn't happen for quite some time.

Both men lost count of how much time was passing, even with the attempts of scratching little marks into the metal of the pod. Their sleep was too irregular in length and frequency to know if they only slept an hour or from one night to the next. Techno, once he fully passed out, slept for at least 12 hours.

Eventually, with their rations empty, Fit decided to try and catch one of the fish, the only real source of food they had, unless they want to live on a diet entirely made of dried kelp or some shit, if this planet even had edible plants (for humans). On top of that, they need to start figuring out a way to gather clean water too, those rations as good as gone as well. Just one problem after the other...

Fit left the pod with his spear contraption, contemplating on where he should try and hunt. While they haven't seen any large predators just yet, he also doesn't want to risk spilling blood near the pod, where it could possibly attract danger. In the end he decided on a little valley a good distance away, covered in little corals and anemone like plants.

While he went on his hunt, Techno took care of checking and rewrapping the bandages. With the at least decently long sleep his shaking had stopped just enough to give him some confidence in not hurting the boy. He still felt like shit, but not as bad as before.

Toby whined a little as the older worked, the pain reliever long since losing their effectiveness on the wounds. He never truly woke up, but he reacted to things around him, loud sounds or touches to his healing, painful wounds. Techno murmured soft apologies as he worked, cringing when he saw one of the wounds developing large blisters.

"Those are good... they help healing... don't let them pop..." Fleeting memories of first aid classes and biology lessons float by, only a small help in making sure that whatever they are trying to do to help might actually be working. He also remembers something about salt water, but he can't remember if it was a good or a bad thing for a burn.

The possibility of broken bones or some other internal injury was still there, but those were things that neither Fit nor Techno knew how to take care of it. He prayed that Toby was alright outside of the obvious burns...

Techno froze in his movement when a deep rumbling noise echoed through the small space. Something that definitely did not come from inside the pod. He stayed still, carefully listening for any more sounds. For a second, he debated whether or not he should quickly comm Fit and warn him, but making a noise right now seemed like a terrible idea.

Another rumble came from somewhere outside, louder this time. Techno could feel the sound vibrate through his bones. Toby beside him whined again, most likely not enjoying the vibrations at all. "Shhh... shhhh it's okay..." He squeezed his hand, the reassurance more for himself rather than the boy, but hopefully enough to keep him quiet.

Suddenly, the pod was seemingly bumped by something, making it sway left and right harshly. The man yelped, clinging to the ladder with one hand, holding Toby with the other. Fuck fuck fuck-

He reached for his mask, attempting to use its commlink to call Fit, but froze when he saw movement outside the window of the bottom hatch. Where he could usually see the coral reef below was now a solid wall of scales, slowly sliding past. Techno did not dare to move. The scales looked huge on their own, showing that whatever creature they belong to must be massive. They had a sandy, almost golden colour, with a lighter coloured pattern curling around the scales.

But as soon as they had showed up in his vision, they disappeared again, the creature suddenly making a sharp turn apparently, pulling it's body out of view. The swaying of the pod stopped for a few moments, but the sounds didn't. Another low rumbling, but a bit higher in pitch.

Techno took a shaky breath, fist unclenching from around the bar of the ladder, grabbing the mask and sitting beside Toby again, his free arm laid over him in a weak attempt of protecting him.

The pod shook again, metal creaking slightly as the entire thing tilted to one side. Techno yelped, pulling Toby into his arms, despite his cries of discomfort. He was shaking, mask clattering to the ground as he practically wrapped himself around Toby like a shield.

The light from outside dimmed.

Techno looked up towards the hatch.

Instead of seeing the blue sky or white clouds, he saw green. Bright, glowing green, covering the entirety of the small glass window. He was frozen with fear, not even Toby's cries of pain being able to make him move.

The green only stayed for a moment.

Just seconds after Toby started making noises of pain again, the green moved away from the window, followed by a blur of blonde and black. The metal of the pod creaked again and with a sudden rock of movement, it returned back to normal. He could clearly hear a splash of water, another low rumble... and then it was quiet.

Techno waited for a long while, making absolutely sure that whatever the fuck that thing was, it has fully left. When he was sure it was safe, he placed Toby down and quickly grabbed his mask, pinging Fit.

"Techno? What's-"

"Fit, something is near the pod! Something huge! Be fucking careful!"

"What? Did you see something?"

"There were scales outside the hatch, huge ones! It growled and climbed onto the pod! I don't know if it was trying to get in, but it almost tipped us over!"

The other stayed silent for a bit, only fuelling Techno's anxiety as he stared out the hatch, waiting for the creature to come back.

"I can't see anything near the pod. And it's pretty flat for a good mile or two, nothing where some big ass predator could hide. Are you sure?"

"Very fucking sure! I just saw it!"

"Okay okay, I believe you. I am on my way back now, I'll be careful."

They stayed on the commlink until Fit actually made it back, just in case something does happen and Techno needs to come and help him. Not that he thinks any of them would actually be able to defend themselves against some huge ass creature that will eat them in one bite.

Relief flooded Techno's body as Fit pushed open the hatch and lifted his spear into the pod, showing off his catch. "Pretty good right?" Three different fish were all speared on the metal pole, the older man grinning proudly as he held the spear up towards Techno. "Yeah, pretty good, while I am losing my shit over a huge creature!"

Fit huffed, placing his spear on the ground. "Like I said, I didn't see anything nearby and the pod looks fine from the outside, no scratches or dents. I feel like some big ass monster would leave some sort of mark." He climbed fully into the pod and closed the hatch again. "Fit I swear there was something outside!" "I believe you! I just don't think it was some massive thing. I feel like I would have seen it."

Techno groaned, holding his head in his hands. "Fit I promise you-" "Hey, I am not saying you are lying." Fit gently patted his shoulder, giving him a smile. It didn't make Techno feel any better. "How's Toby doing?"

Techno sighed, looking up towards the boy. They are glossing over this fucking creature far too fast, but according to Fit it is gone. "Fine I think, I changed the bandages and checked how the burns are healing, but we're out of them now. I moved him around a bit when the creature started moving the pod, I think I opened some blisters on accident." Fit hums, taking off the jacket they were using as a blanket. Like Techno had feared, some spots on the bandages were showing a yellow colouring.

"We'll find something else to use... maybe make something with the Fabricator. I did see some kelp forest or some shit quite a distance away, opposite of the wreck, those should be useful for something. I think it's fine as long as we keep the burns dressed and clean. But no more dragging him around, even if the pod starts moving around." The younger nodded, guilt pressing down on his chest as he watched Fit carefully tug the boy in again.

Then the older moved over to the Fabricator, placing one of the fish on the little pad. That sure as hell caught his interest. "You can cook with that thing?" "Of course! It's a survival tool, it makes both machinery and food. Well, very bland, unseasoned food, but it's safe for consumption afterwards." Techno eyed the Fabricator wearily as Fit used it to cook the fish, not liking the sounds or lasers it was using in the slightest.

"And that is... edible?" "Sure is. I've eaten Fabricator made stuff before, doesn't taste the best, but it is safe- holy shit I can turn this fish into water!" Techno visibly gagged at the thought of drinking fish water. Let alone use it for Toby. "That sounds disgusting." "Don't judge it until you try it!" He had to watch as Fit used his precious empty water bottle and filled it with whatever the fuck the Fabricator was making.

"I am not drinking that."

"You will when the other water bottle empties."

"You did not just threaten me."

Fit just grinned and looked at the liquid in the bottle, swirling it a little. "Looks alright..."

"You can have that, not me."

He just rolled his eyes and closed the bottle, putting it into the storage. Then he handed Techno one of the two cooked fish. "At least eat." He can do that, cooked fish sounds far more appealing than fish water. "Thank you."

Thetwo sat beside each other as they ate, all while the younger stared at thebottom hatch, flinching whenever something swam past the glass.