the moon is bright enough (LUNCH CLUB) DISCONTINUED

the asteroid is fast approaching, your last chance is here

Cooper really should've known that there's no way he can beat Travis in a race. The little fucker transforms mid-step and Usain bolts it down the hallway, giggling when Cooper finally catches up.

"I win!" He says, pumping the air with a fist, and Cooper gives him a gentle shove.

"You cheated," he corrects, but he's smiling. "Let's go meet Ty and Connor."

Travis nods and leads him down the hall. Cooper doesn't miss the little bounce in his step and the tiny wag of his tail. He seems so happy here, and it's so painfully bittersweet. He's glad the guy found himself a place he can fit in, but Cooper can't help but wonder if Travis misses the others, because he definitely does. He finds himself wondering what Carson's up to, how Ted is doing, what Noah has to say. He misses them so much it hurts and god, he wishes they could understand.

He sighs and Travis' ears twitch at the sound. "Are you okay?" He asks, and Cooper pulls up a smile.

"Absolutely. Just thinking, you know what I'm saying?"

Travis tilts his head, confused puppy style, then nods and continues on without another word. That's one thing he likes about best friends. They always know when not to pry.

They continue walking for a minute or so and suddenly Cooper finds himself on what appears to be the cusp of inside vs outside. The room around him is almost like a dome, with a window in the centre of the ceiling. The walls are made of stone, but there's a certain earthy scent to it, and there's dirt below his feet.

"Hey!" Travis calls, waving to someone Cooper can't see. He lowers his voice. "This is my favourite room. It's a hollowed-out hill, Schlatt made it with his light."

Huh. His light. That must've been what caused the crater, then. Schlatt's more powerful than he looks. He steps forwards to stand beside Travis and sees a small boy in a huge pink hoodie. There's someone standing over him, murmuring instructions.

The pink guy turns around and waves back, then hands something to the other one and approaches them. "Travis!" He smiles and fist-bumps the adlet. "Hey, new guy. I am Ty! Wait, I recognise him from somewhere."

"This is Cooper," Travis says. He frowns. "I don't think you met? Unless – oh."

"What?" Cooper asks, and Travis shrinks into himself.

"When I ran away. They're the ones I took with me."

Cooper stares at him, then turns to Ty. A part of him wants to feel angry but something about Ty makes that impossible. He smiles again, and this time it isn't so forced. "Who's he?" He asks, nodding towards the one in the back.

"That's Connor, he's watering the plants," Ty says, stepping to the side. Now Cooper can see rows upon rows of plants sprouting from the soil, while along the walls there are potted flowers and cacti. Connor's in black dungarees with a purple shirt, holding a watering can while crouching over one of the many blooms. He looks over at the mention of his name and waves, then goes back to his work.

"You guys look busy, we should probably go," Cooper says, and Ty pats his arm.

"Come back soon!"

Then they're back in the hallway, and Travis leads him down what appears to be an endless path when they reach a sudden opening. Another room, almost like a cave. There's seats here, plus a small television and a coffee table. This is what must be their living room.

He looks around and notices yet another guy sitting on a chair, arms crossed and watching them. He stands up, holding one hand out, and shakes his head.

"I need you guys to paws for a second, you're looking very fishy."

Cooper sighs so hard his entire chest shakes with it while Travis begins to giggle. "Hey, Charlie!"

Really? This is the guy he'd fought so hard to find? If he knew Charlie was like this, he would've begged Carson to stop weeks ago.

Charlie leans on the armrest, a mischievous grin on his face. He waves them over to sit down, then looks up at Cooper with one eyebrow raised and says, "Wanna know how I got these scars?"

Scars? He scans Charlie's face and arms but finds nothing other than a bit of muck and some weird green goop.

In fact, he's only just opened his mouth when Travis yelps and scrambles for something on the table. He hunches over it, and as he does so Cooper glances over at Charlie, silently questioning his sanity. Charlie's still got that grin on his face, but it's wide enough to almost be a grimace. After about a minute, Travis turns around, wielding a sheet of paper. On it is a badly drawn stick-man falling over in crayon. "Bang."

Charlie looks over at Cooper, furrowing his brow, and gives the adlet a confused smile. "Wha–?"

"Right on da head."

"Right on the head?"

"Right on da head."

"You think I got banged on the head?" Charlie repeats slowly, and Travis nods. He's straight-faced, more serious-looking in this moment than he's ever been in his entire life.

"Mhm! Bang, right on da head."

As they exchange mind-melting exclamations, Cooper rises and begins to sneak out the room. He's pretty sure he's losing his mind. He actually gets a foot out the door and in the hallway when Charlie yells at him, "Hey, Cooper! Guess what?" and he just about manages to stifle his second sigh of the day.

"What?"

Charlie beams at him and throws an arm around Travis' shoulders. "I got banged–"

"– right on da head," Travis finishes for him, and they exchange surprised looks. "Are you reading my mind?" Travis asks, squinting at him.

Charlie shakes his head, looking awfully proud. "We're on the same wavelength, dude. We're in sync." He reaches out his palm for a high-five, but Travis ignores him and turns back to his drawing. Charlie slowly lowers his hand.

"Hey, Cooper," he says instead, but there's no reply. He looks over to where he'd last seen the guy, and sees a man taller than– taller than... everything. He has one hand clapped over Cooper's mouth and the other is held out in front of him. Flickers of flame dance at his finger-tips.

"Come with us, Charlie," he says, and Cooper struggles in his grip, his shouts muffled behind the man's palm. Somewhere down the hallway, he hears Wilbur scream a warning. There are more of them coming. A tinge of fear creeps up Charlie's spine but he ignores it. I am not the priority here, he tells himself, and steps out to stand in front of Travis, throwing his arm out to keep the adlet behind him. He's already angry at himself for them getting Cooper, but there's no way he'll let them have Travis, too. He hears a soft popping noise and realises Travis has transformed. Good. That's good. Travis is stronger that way.

He scans the room for something he can use. He needs some form of technology that can protect them. "Who the fuck are you?" He asks, stalling for time.

The man cocks his head. He looks surprised, then makes a soft noise of amusement. "They didn't tell you? I'm not surprised. They're just trying to keep you with them," he says. The fire in his hand grows until it forms a small ball, crackling with heat. "We first heard about you through that one, actually–" He points at Travis, who begins to snarl– "He saw that goat-man almost kill you and told us. We came to get you, but you were already gone. The truth is, they kidnapped you, Charlie. You shouldn't trust any of them."

Charlie stares at him. "No. You're lying," he says, but doubt is already creeping in. He glances over his shoulder at Travis, then turns back to the man in the doorway. Schlatt didn't mean to hurt him, and Charlie's pretty sure he remembers it being an accident, but his confidence begins to waver. Cooper struggles harder, grabbing at the man's arms and shaking his head. Charlie's mouth feels dry when he asks again, "What do you want?"

The man laughs and his teeth glint in the light. "We're here to rescue you, of course."