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Waiting for the Worms

She was playing solitaire. The cards were as big as Jack was, and he could easily fit inside of her palm. Her hips disintegrated into a steam of galaxy, she had no legs. That's where he was too, the galaxy, standing on a clear, platform with this purple heap of a woman idly playing her cards in front of him.

"So... can I leave now?"

"No." Her voice boomed.

"You're so pressed." She ignored him.

Eternity was a long sentence. It meant that reflection was inevitable. That was the beauty of incarceration. Sure, half of the reason is to keep the community safe by shoving away the criminals destroying their purity, but the other half was more sentimental. When you're a prisoner, with barely anything to do but eat and sit on your ass in a room (God help the extroverts!), you tend to think a lot. You think about what you could have done better to not get caught... or maybe even if those series of events were the right thing to do in the first place. Of course, though, Jack had only been here two days so reflection hadn't quite creeped up on him yet, but if it did, he surely would-

"Don't get caught up on hypotheticals. It will drive you mad." She said, her eyes stapled to her game.

"Fuck, what!? Can you hear my thoughts?"

"Well, I intended that to be a surprise, but I figured that it would be more fun to pull your leg when you're sane. They're no fun when they're warped."

"Damn, shows your age."

"I hope you know that I am only 4,226. It doesn't make sense to hide one's age. It shows through the face. I hear that's a detrimental reveal to your women."

"I mean, that's a bit of a dated thing, but uh... cool."

She scoffed.

"Looks like fate is destroying your ass. Only two aces with no moves left. What a shame." He poked at her.

With a purple blush, she faded the cards away. She leaned in towards him, her hands supporting her aggravated face, her elbows supported by the platform where Jack was standing.

"You're a bit fresh, aren't you?" She said, her sharp teeth eye-level with Jack.

"I don't know about that, I mean... there aren't any showers in space..." He said, although he wasn't sure if he would regret it.

"You know my species used to ravage the galaxy for little ants like your kind and eat them."

"Woah, good little miss Warden is showing her temper! All beware!"

She rolled her eyes and returned to where she was, but she did not return the cards. "Jack, you've only been here for two days. You barely know me, or how my temper behaves."

"I get the gist of you, lady," he said. "It's fucking cold."

"Well did you expect space to be warm?" She didn't look at Jack.

"I mean kinda... what with the sun and all that, I just thought-"

"The sun is too far away." She interrupted, implying that the conversation was over.

"What a life..." Jack muttered as he threw his ass down on the clear platform hoping to reflect on current events for... eternity.

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