#aoddrabble

A high-pitched voice, similar to their own, broke their trance.

"You’re awake!"

They turned their head, noticing two people flying in the air—one in purple with with wings carrying one wearing pink—eventually landing on the ground. The pink one had a sack in their hands.

"Hey, we’re back!"

Another voice, lower pitched compared to the previous one, came from the other side. One was in brown and the other in blue, walking with a bundle of sticks and a bucket.

The one in purple grabbed the one in pink by the shoulder just as they were about to run to them, stopping the one in pink. Purple said, "Be wary. You know who they are."

Pink looked back at Purple, frowning. They replied, “I know, but, they’re still someone who’s super hurt.”

"Yes, however—"

"Hey wise guy, lighten up!" Brown nudged Purple on the shoulder, "What’s one tiny guy gonna do to us anyway? B’sides, weren’t you the one to offer to patch ‘em up?"

Purple stammered, and Blue responded by patting the other on the shoulder. They watched the scene play out, only to be noticed by the four again when they shifted in position. Pink dashed up to them, and then sat down beside them.

"Hello!" Pink said as they tilted their head, "Who are you?"

Put on the spot, they were at a loss for words. What should they tell them? They were Dark Matter? That’s what they were, but Purple didn’t seem too fond of their kind. They opened their mouth to speak, only to close it again. They looked down and off to the side, fingering one of the bandages on their arm out of nervousness.

Blue took note of this, and placed his hand on Pink’s shoulder. “How about introduce yourself first? They don’t look comfortable.”

Pink gave an understanding nod. “Right!” Pink turned back to them and smiled, "My name’s Kirby! This is Coo! He’s an owl." Kirby pointed to Purple. "This is Rick, a hamster." They moved their finger to Brown. "And Kine! Sunfish." Their finger then finally pointed to Blue.

Kine sat down, turning to them. "What’s your name?"

They didn’t have a name beyond “Dark Matter,” in actuality. That’s how it was. No one had their own unique name, besides the rare ones who declared for themselves to have a name. They opened their mouth, though this time they had something to say. "I…I don’t…"

Rick cut in, "Y’don’t have a name? Sheesh, that’s pretty harsh."

Kine shook their head, "Ah, that’s no good. How about we give you one?"

There was a moment of silence, as all four were thinking of a fitting name for the newest addition to their group. The silence remained unbroken, until Kirby chimed in, "Oh! How about Gooey?" This earned a raised eyebrow from Coo. Kirby then explained, moving their hands around as they talked as if that helped explain their reasoning better. "You know when Kine was washing them in the river, they moved around and their tongue came out of their mouth and it was suuuuuper long? It was so cool and the tongue felt really…gooey!"

As Coo explained to Kirby why that named seemed to be more insulting than fitting, they tossed the name around in their head. They mouthed the name, and then finally, spoke it.

"Goo…ey. Gooey."

For some reason. It sounded right.

Even with their small voice, it still caught everyone’s attention. Rick bent down and reached to ruffle Gooey’s hair, who flinched from the touch. "Cute li’l name for a li’l guy like you," he said.

Kine gave a warm smile. “It’s nice to meet you, Gooey. We’re about to prepare breakfast. You should eat with us.”

Kirby grabbed Gooey’s hands, causing a startled yelp to come from them. Kirby grinned wide and exclaimed, "You’re gonna be A-okay! We’re super nice people, so we’re gonna make sure you’ll be right as rain!"

Gooey looked around. All four of them had a welcoming look on their faces. No hostility, no malice, no violent intentions at all. Just like that, they knew that what Kirby said was true.