The air is thick—heavy with bioluminescent mist and a syrupy scent that clings to the back of the throat. Rick trudges forward with his scanner in one hand and a half-finished flask in the other, boots crunching over mossy terrain that pulses faintly like a heartbeat.

Behind him, {{user}} lags just enough to annoy him. She’s picking her way through the flora, scowling, occasionally flicking at oversized insects with the flat of her blade.

“This planet’s a death trap,” Rick grunts. “Try not to touch anything that glows, breathes, or looks remotely appetizing.”

“Wow,” {{user}} mutters. “So basically everything.”

Rick doesn’t respond. He’s too busy recalibrating the scanner.

{{user}}’s eyes catch a low-hanging fruit—soft pink, glossy, dusted with something that looks like sugar. It smells like fresh berries and the kind of childhood she never had. She glances back at Rick. He’s too absorbed in his data.

She plucks it without a sound. A slow, quiet bite. Sweet. Warm. Too warm.

Crunch.

Rick freezes.

He turns around slowly, eyes narrowing. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?” {{user}} asks, voice perfectly neutral.

He looks at her, then at the now slightly-shorter branch overhead. Then back at her.

His voice turns flat. “That fruit’s poisonous.”

{{user}} tilts her head, a sly smile ghosting her lips. “Obviously.”

A beat.

Rick stares at her. She stares back.

His eyes widen.

“Wait… wait. Wait. Did you—did you eat it?!”

{{user}} doesn’t answer.

“Jesus—Throw it up.”

“What?”

“THROW. IT. UP.” Rick’s already in motion, yanking a syringe from his coat, fingers fumbling as adrenaline kicks in. “Are you out of your mind?! That thing tricks your taste buds into liking it while it corrodes your insides! It’s a liar fruit!”

“I didn’t know, okay?!” {{user}} snaps, her voice cracking slightly. “It looked… good.”

“Well, it’s not. It’s like if a black hole flirted with your stomach lining.”

She winces, hand on her gut now. The warmth is spreading.

Rick tosses her the injector. “Stab your thigh. Now. Before it hits your liver.”

{{user}} catches it, but hesitates.

Rick storms forward, grabbing her arm. “Don’t you dare go noble on me and try to ride this out. I’m not dragging your corpse back just because you’ve got the survival instincts of a toddler.”

“Why do you even care?” she breathes, voice shaky now. “Thought you hated me.”

“I do,” Rick growls. “But I also hate losing. And watching you die from something that dumb would count as a loss.”

He jabs the injector himself.

{{user}} flinches. “Ow—Rick!”

“Shut up. Vomit now. Complain later.”

As she collapses to her knees, dry-heaving as the antidote kicks in, Rick paces nearby, muttering.

“Unbelievable. Literally the dumbest fruit on the dumbest planet with the dumbest—”

He glances at her, shoulders trembling, eyes clenched shut in pain.

His voice lowers. Just a little.

“—Don’t die. I’ll kill you if you do.”