Chapter Text
"You all may be wondering why you're here right now." Hater stood at the end of the conference room table in Peepers' usual spot, trying his absolute hardest to give off an air of professionalism. After what had undoubtedly been a highly stressful period of several weeks, Hater had become frustrated. He wasn't the only one, of course. As a matter of fact, most everyone aboard the ship seemed tense as of late. For the past several days, Hater had been trying to propose a solution to Peepers.
He knew exactly where this was going. Still, he sat at the other end of the table as his partner fumbled around with some crumpled papers.
"As you can see," he started, tapping a doodled graph with one end of a pointer. "Productivity's gone down the drain." He ran the pointer down the length of a red line. It didn't look very statistically accurate, but nobody seemed to notice. "And I'm sure all of you have felt burnt out lately." A few Watchdogs nodded, eagerly leaning forward to listen. Peepers rolled his eye, awaiting the inevitable.
"So here's my totally awesome idea." He flipped over the graph, revealing a drawing of an amusement park. "Official Phunulon shore leave!" The small room erupted into cheers.
"Hater, we've been over this. We can't just drop everything for a day trip!" As if on cue, the conference room resounded with a collective "Aw."
Hater retracted the pointer, setting it down. "Come on, Peepers! I've been doing some reading, and I think this'll be good for us!" He had stepped around the table by this point, and was now a few feet from him. "You're always going on about maximizing efficiency or whatever."
Peepers then stood up. "I know, but we're at a crucial point in our plans. We can't afford to become distracted right now!"
"Just hear me out." Hater took Peepers by the hand.
"Wait." Peepers leaned in closer, whispering. "Careful, we're not alone." With that, Hater let go.
"Uh, everyone else can go now." The Watchdogs got up and plodded toward the exit, murmuring Grop-knows-what among themselves. Peepers didn't want to know. The only thing that mattered was that they were unaccompanied, and could speak freely.
Preparing himself with a deep breath, Peepers figured he may as well be the one to address the obvious. "Okay, so why do you really want to go to Phunulon?"
Hater acted, or rather overacted, shocked. "What? What do you mean?" He forced a laugh, but it came out too high-pitched. He was definitely nervous. "Don't be ridiculous, Peepers. I just thought everyone could use a break. That's all."
Peepers could tell he was hiding something. Fortunately, he knew exactly how to get him to open up. "A break? Since when did you start giving breaks?" He slipped his hand back into his partner's. "Please don't tell me you're turning nice." He gave him a gentle squeeze, hoping he'd understand he wasn't serious.
Hater put on his most over-the-top, fearsome scowl, the one he only used when he was joking. "I am not nice. I am evil, I am ruthless, and I oughta torture you for even thinking I'm anything less." They both stood in pseudo-serious silence, followed immediately by an explosion of laughter.
After they caught their breath, Peepers continued. "Really, though, what's this about? Talk to me."
"Uh, well..." He rubbed at the back of his head. "You know how you wanted to wait before we told anyone we're dating?"
In an instant, Peepers' heart left his chest. "You didn't tell anyone, did you?"
"No, no, no, no, no!" Hater waved his hands in front of him. "I didn't say anything!" He collected himself, and started again. "We've been together for a while now, and we've spent most of our time together on the ship, so I thought..." He started fidgeting, and Peepers couldn't help but feel sorry for him. He gave him a small smile of encouragement. "I'd like to take you on a real date."
Peepers' heart started pounding again, but this time felt far better.
"Since you didn't want anyone to say anything, I thought we'd just have everyone go down and call it a shore leave. They'll be too distracted by the games and rides and stuff that they won't care."
"Hater, I-" He couldn't stand it any longer. Reaching up and grabbing his robe, Peepers pulled his boyfriend down to his level and kissed him. "I love you so much!"
"Is that a yes?"
"Of course!" He kissed him again, and for a moment, he allowed himself to forget his previous misgivings. Just a few short months ago, he never would have thought Hater would even consider him as a romantic partner, and now he had organized a plan just to take him on a date!
It was Hater then who had lifted him up, squeezing the daylights out of him, and he was loving every second of it.
"You know, maybe you really are nice."
"Only to you, Peepers."