Chapter Text
1 Month After the Crash
Daisuke
Daisuke sits by the table, staring down at the board game. It's game night but someone's missing.
"...suke. Daisuke!" Anya raises her voice, trying to get his attention. He jumps, letting out a yelp. "It's your turn."
"What? Oh... alright..."
"Something wrong?"
"It's just... Y'know, he's not here. Cap-"
"Curly," Jimmy corrects. "I don't know why you're so bothered that he isn't here. He tried to kill us all!"
Daisuke glares at Jimmy before looking away. He doesn't believe Curly would do that. Not after all he's done for them. Their captain wouldn't do that.
Surely, no one in the crew thinks he'd do that. Except Jimmy, apparently.
Yeah, they hadn't been getting along as well a month before the crash but even he wouldn't think so low of Curly, right?
Well, he does but he shouldn't.
They're good friends.
At least, Daisuke thought so.
The intern finally takes his turn, knowing he was taking too long. Then he leans back, watching Swansea go next.
Everyone pauses when they hear Curly moaning in pain. Jimmy and Swansea look at the nurse expectantly. She hesitates, but gets up and walks to the medical room.
•
Curly
Curly writhes, far from comfortable, not that he deserves any comfort. He manages to turn, really an accident, and then falls onto the ground with a thud.
The pain is unbearable, the dirty floor touching his skinless flesh burns. He tries to scream, but he can't even do that.
"Oh god, Curly!" Anya exclaims. Curly freezes, not even having realized someone was approaching the medical room.
At least it wasn't Jimmy.
Come to think of it, only Anya and Jimmy have seen Curly since the explosion. He's heard the rest of the crew members talking outside at different times, but only the nurse and former co-pilot have come to see him.
Only to give him pain medicine.
Curly understands.
He's probably not all that great to look at.
Cold gloves touch him and he lets out a cry, involuntarily squirming away from the pain it brings him.
"Oh, captain! I'm s-sorry. I know it hurts, but if you stop struggling-"
Anya's voice is quiet, panicked as she tries to reason with him. She pulls away, waiting for him to calm down.
Curly pants, turning his head to look up at Anya. He can see the pity and slight hint of disgust in her eyes.
It hurts so much more than he thought it would by now.
Finally, once he calms, she picks him up and lays him on the stretcher.
"You okay?" Anya asks, trying to clean him off. "I need to give you your meds."
She walks to the counter to grab one of the bottles, glancing over at Curly with worry.
When she comes back, she pulls a pill out and tries to feed it to him.
The former captain turns his head away, refusing to take the pill.
"C'mon, captain. Please. Don't- don't do this. Take the pill, please," Anya begs, grabbing his chin.
Curly squirms, trying to pull away. The nurse attempts to hold him down.
After a moment of struggle Anya freezes, eyes wide like she just realized something. She drops both the pill and the bottle, backing away. He hears the bottle thud as it hits the ground.
"Oh captain... I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
He watches her, wishing he could comfort her as she cries. After a moment, he tries to sit up and hold his arms out.
Anya looks up when she hears him move, surprised and concerned. She shakes her head, tears falling.
"I-it's okay. I'm fine..."
Curly tries to poke her with his nub, but she's too far away for him to do so. She steps closer again with a worried look on her face.
When Anya's within his reach, he taps her shoulder to try and comfort her. She glances at his arm and then his face.
After a moment, a soft smile appears but then she frowns.
"Thank you. I still need to give you your pills, though."
Curly shakes his head, which obviously disappoints Anya.
"Please? You need to take your pills and I don't want to ask Jimmy."
The former captain shrinks away, letting out a soft sound of fear. His reaction surprised the both of them.
What a pathetic reaction. And from the mention of someone he considers his best friend.
•
Curly lies there on the stretcher. Not that he could really do anything else. All he can do is lay there and think. Think, think, think. He has all the time in the world to, anyway.
So he just thinks.
About his past, his mistakes, his friends. Jimmy. Everything. After a while, it becomes exhausting.
It's not like he can do anything about the current situation anyway. He's in so much pain. The medicine helps a little, very little. And he can barely even move, much less speak.
Curly never thought he'd end up being so helpless. It's pathetic. So pathetic. Just like Jimmy says.
Funny how one simple mistake could turn Curly into this.
Was it just the one?
And what mistake was it that caused this? He wonders.
Was it his conversations with Anya? His inability to follow a direct order from the higher-ups? Was it getting Jimmy a job? Working for Pony Express?
Does it go farther back?
How far back would it go?
To when he met Jimmy?
•
Daisuke
"Hey. Look alive, would ya?"
"Huh?" Daisuke asks, snapping out of his thoughts. He looks up to see Jimmy. "Oh. Hi."
"Are you really that bothered by Curly's absence?" Jimmy asks, a confused look on his face.
Could he not comprehend that maybe, just maybe, Daisuke actually had some form of attachment to the ex-captain?
"Well... yeah. Aren't you?"
"... kinda. I'm starting to get over it."
Kinda, huh? Only goes to show how much Curly's friendship mattered to Jimmy.
Of course, he doesn't say that. Not to his face.
Even though Jimmy's never been mean to Daisuke, he's seen what happens when he does get angry. Who humiliates their friend and captain like that?
Especially during a party just for him.
Before Daisuke can say anything, Jimmy speaks.
"But I guess that might be because I see him more often than anyone here on the ship. ... do you think... it would make you feel better to visit him?" Jimmy asks. He's very hesitant. This might be the first time the intern's seen him so uncertain.
"Well... y-yeah!"
The former co-pilot gives Daisuke a surprised look, not expecting the excitement.
"Wow. Okay. Just... alright. Uh... follow me."
Jimmy gestures him to follow, walking to Medical.
Just before they get there, Daisuke hesitates. Is he really ready to see Curly? According to Anya, the injuries were pretty bad. He was lucky to survive.
"You coming?" Jimmy asks.
After a moment, he nods.
The door opens and-
"That... oh, captain..."
"Curly," Jimmy corrects. "How many times do I have to remind you?"
But Daisuke pays him no mind. Tears prick his eyes as he steps closer.
"Oh my god..." He turns to Jimmy. "Lucky? This is lucky? Oh no, he-"
Daisuke walks over to Curly's prone form, his remaining eye rolled back slightly.
"Is... he okay?"
Other than the barely noticeable rise and fall of his chest, Curly's very still.
Is he asleep?
Jimmy comes up beside the intern, tensing almost immediately.
"Curly?" He asks, a hint of concern in his voice. "Curly!"
Curly, startled, attempts to sit up, his quiet breathing turning into loud wheezing. His eye becomes more alert, focusing on Jimmy before moving on.
He seems to calm down a little when he sees Daisuke.
Jimmy relaxes too, cursing under his breath.
"Over it?"
"Okay listen, I said kinda!"
If Daisuke wasn't feeling so weird about this, he would've laughed. Besides, he was too worried about Curly.
"He looks so..."
"Pathetic? Disgusting?" Jimmy asks, immediately ruining whatever semi-friendly moment they had.
How could he say such a thing right in front of Curly?!
"That's mean! That wasn't even what I was gonna say!"
"... Then what?"
"I was gonna say helpless..."
"How is that any better than what I just said?"
Daisuke stammers, surprised by Jimmy's reply.
"It just is!"
"That makes no sense."
"But it does!"
Jimmy scoffs, walking away. He gives Daisuke a look before he disappears.
"Weird ass kid. Of course it's the same," is the last thing the intern hears him say.
He turns away and mocks Jimmy, yelping when he notices Curly again.
"Oh right. Uh, hi Cur- no, Cap- I mean Oriontain! Wait no," Daisuke huffs. "I'm sorry."
He doesn't know what he's even apologizing for. But as he looks at Curly, he feels the need to.
Maybe for what he just said about the guy looking helpless?
Daisuke wouldn't wanna be called helpless.
Curly wouldn't like it either, he supposes. No one would.
"Sorry," he says again. The intern places a hand on Curly's chest, just to make sure he's still alive. "You're very quiet..."
The former captain works his jaw, wheezing and groaning. Daisuke pulls his hand away quickly.
"Hold on, wait! I didn't mean- uh..." he gives up speaking for the moment, watching Curly struggle to do so.
It's very sad to watch.
"This is mercy?"
It doesn't look like it. Not at all.
"Oh Orion. I'm so sorry. This is not-"
Feeling something nudge him, Daisuke pauses. He looks down, seeing Curly's nub poke his arm. Worried, he pulls it away.
"Aren't you like... gonna get an infection or something? Anya mentioned something about that..." his words drift off.
They stare at each other, no sound aside from Curly's struggle to breathe.
Suddenly Daisuke remembers what he came here to say.
"Jimmy, um... says you crashed the ship. I think Anya and Swansea believe him. But I don't. I don't wanna call him a liar, but there's no way you'd do that to us. To me..." he pauses, starting to tear up.
He clenches his fist.
"You promised I'd have a good life after this. How do we know we'll get home?"
Daisuke falls to his knees, sobbing. He looks up at Curly.
"Orion please, I need you! What do I do? Please, Orion, please! I don't know what to do..."
He sniffles and hiccups, rubbing his eyes. The tears just keep coming.
•
Curly
It really fucking sucks watching Daisuke cry. Curly can't do anything but watch.
He really wishes he could say something, maybe hug him, comfort the intern like he used to.
But it hurts bad enough when he tries to move, even with the use of painkillers. He's in too much pain and too exhausted to attempt to move again.
Curly just lies there and listens as Daisuke sobs. After a while, he calms down a little and just lies there instead.
•
Okay, now Curly's pretty sure Daisuke's asleep. They've both been lying there for quite awhile now.
He can only tell because the pain's starting to come back. Even so, he tries not to writhe and groan to allow the intern more sleep.
But, of course, that's out of the question when he hears footsteps. It's Jimmy.
Fuck.
This isn't gonna end well.
At all.
•
Jimmy
Jimmy enters the room, his eyes narrowing at the proximity between Daisuke and Curly. What the hell is the kid doing?
He walks closer, realizing the intern in asleep.
"Lazy ass. C'mon, get up," he orders, flicking Daisuke's head.
"Ouch! That hurt."
"Maybe if you weren't sleeping, I wouldn't have flicked you."
"I fell asleep?"
"Yeah. You did."
Daisuke yawns and gets up, rubbing his eyes. Which are slightly red.
Had he been crying?
Better not.
Jimmy can't think of a single thing that would cause Daisuke to cry. Except maybe...
He glances down at Curly, who just stares back.
"Go away. You've hung around him long enough," he mutters to the intern, shooing him away.
Now. About Curly.
"Couldn't bother to wake the damn kid up?" Jimmy asks in a joking manner. "Useless piece of shit. And you used to be called Captain. Quite the fall from the top of the ladder, hm?"
He snickers.
"Oh, poor Curly."
He watches the former captain's chest rise and fall, his breathing louder. It gets quicker when he walks closer too.
The former captain must be excited to see him.
"You’re lucky to be alive. Y'know that?"
Jimmy sighs, pressing a finger to his chest, hard enough to elicit a pained groan.
"You don't get to complain."
His places his palm against the gown, tempted to squeeze the flesh beneath it. Feel the muscle that's left. Hurt him. But he doesn't.
He slides his hand up to Curly's throat.
"You used to be beautiful. Well, you still are. Just a different kind of beautiful."
Jimmy leans down, his mouth closer to where Curly's ear used to be.
"This is all your fault, you know. Everything's all broken because of you. And I'm going to fix it."