Work Text:
Life on the crashed husk of the Mother of Invention changed, a little, after the incident with their old bunk. No longer surrounded by the haze that took even their own name from them, Maine found more and more memories coming back. Of a life before the Meta, before Sigma. Of a family of assholes living on the same ship they were hunkered down inside—eating questionably edible MREs and having to make daily trips outside to gather snow for water.
Remembering wasn’t always easy, or pleasant. There were as many bad memories as there were good—though thankfully certain periods of time remained blank or unclear—but they were remembering. That was all that mattered.
But that wasn’t the only thing that had changed. Alpha, still stitched tight into what felt like the very fabric of their mind, made constant use of the fact that he could now project a full-sized holographic form. A scrawny looking man with scruffy hair, glasses and non-descript clothes—sometimes an undersuit, matching Maine—who made the space feel more alive, less empty. His presence had always been constant, heavy against their mind, but now it was tangible.
Maine found it comforting.
“Okay big guy what’re you gonna eat today, shitty spaghetti or crappy chili?” Alpha asked, projected as if he were stood on top of the counter looking into the cabinet. Exploring the ship had let them gather enough MREs to last weeks, piled high inside the least unstable of the cabinets. There wasn’t much variety and it wasn’t recommended to subsist on these meals for this long, but it wasn’t as if they had any other choice. “Yeah yeah I know the selection is terrible, but you’re a very large person you need to eat enough to keep up that uh— that physique of yours.”
Maine chuckled and raised a brow, folding their arms loosely under their chest. ‘Know that. Doesn’t make taste better.’
“Ah quit your whining and eat your chili.”
With a shake of their head Maine reached around Alpha—hologram or not, it felt wrong to pass through him—to grab the chili. There was the faint sensation of their chest pressing against a back that wasn’t actually there, but that they could almost feel thanks to their strange link. Alpha tensed slightly and Maine could hear his flustered thoughts—he never had been very good at hiding them.
Oh they’re very close. Oh shit. Are they doing that on purpose? No, shut up me, that’s weird. You gotta stop being weird, you already asked if they were single out of fucking nowhere!
Maine chuckled quietly under their breath, grabbing the package and stepping back. They heated it up and sat down, pulling a face at the unpleasant looking meal but taking a big forkful anyway. Alpha, as he projected himself sitting nearby, was still debating internally whether or not Maine had pressed so close on purpose.
They had.
That was another thing that had changed. Spending those hours together, Alpha projected in their lap, had made it clearer than ever to Maine how much they’d begun to value both Alpha’s company and Alpha himself. He’d been there for them ever since they dragged themselves out of the water and, more than that, he was funny, dedicated and full of a unique scrappy attitude.
Sure, he was also an asshole, but they were used to that.
Since then, they had been trying to flirt with Alpha in return. The problem was that Alpha seemed completely oblivious to their methods.
“Tastes as bad as it looks, huh?” Alpha said, crossing his legs. Maine scrunched up their face, forcing themself to take another bite. “We’ll get you some real food eventually big guy.”
‘Eventually,’ they thought back. Patting the space directly next to them, they nudged Alpha mentally. ‘Here. C’mon.’
Alpha flickered out and reappeared beside them, with the faint sensation of his knee knocking their leg.
Maine had never been good with words. Even now, communicating with Alpha through thought alone, they favoured showing more than they did telling. Their body responded to them better than their words ever had; whereas words were clumsy and difficult, physical affection was simple. Pick-up lines or compliments or outright statements of feelings… they were outside of their comfort zone. Inviting Alpha to sit close to them, deliberately leaning into his holo to create sensation, sitting listening to Alpha talk—that they could do.
Vague memories told them it had worked before, but no matter how hard they tried with Alpha he just didn’t seem to get it. Gestures like almost constantly beckoning him to sit close to them were accepted, but clearly not understood as intended. Subtly and overtly flirtatious touches were met by Alpha’s internal confusion. Even asking him to come project laid down next to them when they went to sleep at night was apparently too subtle.
They’d even resorted to showing off a little whilst exercising, as they often did to pass the time. All that did was spark more of Alpha’s thoughts about how attractive they were, rather than actually provoking action.
But nothing, nothing, was more ridiculous and amusing than the fact that they had been thinking very openly about all of that for the past week and a half without Alpha noticing.
For all intents and purposes they shared a mind. Yet Alpha didn’t hear them thinking, without any attempt to hide it, about their intentions towards him. It was so ridiculous that they’d considered trying words, despite how awkward and clumsy they would feel. A last resort, but one that had started to creep up on them.
Finishing the chili, they stood up and let their arm brush against Alpha’s hologram. ‘C’mon. Back to room. Getting cold.’
“Gonna work out again?”
‘For while.’ They put the dish away and Alpha appeared next to them, floating along beside them as they walked back to their room. Every usable blanket they could find was piled up on the bed or laid out over the floor to protect their feet from the freezing metal. They naturally ran hot, but even they felt the cold here on Sidewinder.
Maybe they could ask Alpha to help them warm up. Would that be forward enough?
Shivers ran down their spine as they pulled off their shirt, dropped down to the floor and started running through their usual drills. Alpha sat on the bed, amidst the nest of blankets, watching them with a look on his face that could only be described as deliberately and unconvincingly indifferent.
The light of his holo grew a little brighter, almost like a blush. Maine smiled.
No one has the right to look that good. Seriously. Their bicep has to be the size of my head. What the fuck. Why do I have a thing for people who could kick my ass? Wait, no, shut up, they can hear you dumbass.
Suppressing the laugh that followed was almost a work out in itself.
‘Hey. C’mere. Sit on back, count for me?’ they thought, rolling onto their front to do push-ups. There was absolutely no need for him to sit on them to count, or for him to count at all, but it was worth a try.
“Uh, sure.” Maine could have sworn that he glowed even brighter before he disappeared and the unusual, light pressure of his holo touched their back. Oh holy shit they’re muscular— “Okay go ahead big guy.”
Maine started to move and Alpha started to count. Through his thoughts they could tell that his position gave him a good view of their back muscles moving as they completed the set. And then another. And another.
Showing off wasn’t their usual thing, but it earned some very amusing reactions.
Eventually, they rolled over onto their back and positioned for another set of sit-ups. Alpha flickered as if he were about to move away, but Maine shook their head.
‘Stay. Not like you can get in way, hologram,’ they thought as they laid back. Alpha raised a brow, but perched over their gut. Immediately, his thoughts shifted from their back to the prominent muscles of their chest. Maine chuckled. Started the set.
Every sit-up lifted them so that their torso was adjacent to Alpha’s, so that they brushed just enough to create that unique sensation. Every sit-up brought their faces extremely close together, so close that if Alpha were solid he could have felt the sharp huff of their breaths.
Alpha became such a bright white that Maine almost had to shield their eyes.
“Y’know if I didn’t know better,” he said, apparently completely unaware of his own luminescence, “I’d think you were flirting with me, big guy. Getting real close there.”
Maine dropped to the floor like a rock and stared at him. Really? Really?
A look of realisation finally crossed Alpha’s features, his jaw falling slack. “Oh. Oh holy shit you are flirting with me.”
Without a second’s pause, Maine burst into laughter. Full-body, deep, rumbling laughter that Alpha was apparently very much a fan of, an awkward grin spreading across his face. Over a week and a half, a week and a half, but finally it clicked.
‘Oblivious,’ they teased, sitting up so that Alpha could project more naturally on their lap. ‘Was starting to think I’d have to just say.’
“Well, uh, y’know, that would certainly have uh— expedited the process, a little bit. Maybe,” Alpha said. Maine had leaned close, close enough that their lips could ever so lightly brush against Alpha’s holographic ones. Oh holy shit okay—
‘Less fun.’ They shrugged, chuckling at his wide-eyed expression. ‘Worked, eventually.’
“…how long have you been actively—?”
‘Data-pad.’
“Oh holy shit I’m fucking oblivious.”
Maine collapsed back against the floor, filling the room with laughter.