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Hope and fear. Those described the current crew of the Skeld perfectly. After all holding the weight of the future was no easy task, a weight in which there is no quantifiable way to measure. Their planet was dying and it was up to them to try and continue their race. Scientists in a desperate rush to save the human race decided just to create a program and pay those who would volunteer to be sent to a planet to help build an already established colony there. The crew had little knowledge or experience of what they were doing thanks to the careless worry going on.
The most qualified people were chosen, and even that wasn’t great. The smartest people that were in the ship found some tasks hard even at the best of times. Many also knew of the hardships in space, if something goes majorly wrong you could be as good as dead in an instant. Not to mention creating a whole society again almost from scratch was a grueling task no matter who you ask. The farming, the physical labor, fighting off possible aliens, natural disasters stronger than those on Earth, and the emotional toll from never seeing your family or friends again was too great for most to handle. Some came to the ship because of the money and fame they would gain and some came in the search of nobler pursuits. Black stared out of the ship, darkness with pinpricks of light, that light reflecting on their brown skin, was all the sky was to them, much different from the blue they were used to.
But with this new era ahead they had hope.
Blue settled next to Black the light brush against their suit taking them out of their thoughts. "What are you thinking about?" Blue asked, Black grinned and turned their head to look at her
"The Game." Blue looked shocked at the revelation, eyebrows raising and mouth gaping open, Black believed her face most likely would've gone pale if it were able to.
"Why that of all things!" Blue moaned in horror dragging her fingers down her face, causing the skin around her eyes to droop, while Black chuckled. In their early childhood years, it was called sleeping beauty or in some cases play dead, one would lay down and pretend to be asleep while the other had to wake them up, it mostly resulted in them slapping each other silly. Black heard a slight thud next to them and laughed
"Did you fall down?" They asked.
"No! Well only half way down, these suits are uncomfortable!" Green squawked shaking out his curly red main of hair. The group giggled.
"What game were you two talking about anyways?"
"We'll tell you when you're older." Black joked.
"I'm older than you!" Green squeaked back. Green had joined their friend circle sometime in their teen years, despite that few inside jokes from before they had met him had escaped his grasp. As they chatted the lights overhead flickered reminding them they had jobs to do, splitting up they searched for the rest of their crewmates.
Wandering through the maze of a ship, vaguely feeling homesick but hey who wouldn't after two months in space, Black eventually met up with Red in Medbay. Red stepped of the scanner to greet them "Hey Black, what're you looking for?" Red was someone Black had only met through the program so they knew little about each other but they were quickly warming up to each other, Red had started out shy! "Nothing, what about you?"
"Just a certain crewmate around here." Said Red playfully poking Black in the side.
"Hey!" Black giggled slapping Reds hand away softly. "Where are you going next Red?"
"I'm going to electrical next, want to come with?" He tell them, throwing his thumb over his shoulder.
"Sure." Black looked at the sleek interior of the ship, so cold and robotic, yet healthier and stronger compared to their decaying world. The floors would always hold, unlike the ground that sank back there. "What do you think it looks like there Red?"
"I'd imagine it'll look how it does in the pictures we saw." He shrugs his broad shoulders, accidentally hitting them against the wall, then he goes to rub at his stinging shoulder.
"I know that, I just mean how it really is. Do you really think an image could capture its beauty?" Black emphasizes throwing their arms apart.
"Hmm-" Before Red could say anything they were interrupted by an emergency siren blaring.
"Do you think it's serious?" Red leans in and whispers to Black.
"I don't think something would happen this quickly. Maybe someone's just messing around? Like that day White accidentally bumped into the button?" Coming up to the desk they came face to face with a very shaken Orange.
"What happened?" Black asked.
"Whites, um, uh, Whites dead." He stutters, lifting up his thickly rimmed glasses and shaggy brown hair in turn with an unsteady hand.
"Where?" Brown interjected.
"In the upper engine. I saw Black go past it last." Orange accuses, he itches the back of his head.
"I was with Red the whole time!" Black scrunches their nose as Orange looks down upon them both figuratively and literally, their small frame really not helping their case.
"I can back that up." Red says crossing his arms.
"You can't just accuse people like that!" Black retorts looking down and picking at their short bitten nails.
"My friend wouldn't do that." Blue says, murder in her gaze, if looks could kill Orange would be no more. But alas Orange stays resolute.
"Well then, I guess we'll just clean up the body and act like nothing happened then!" Orange snaps, slamming his hands down on the table, causing things on the table to jump to the left at the force.
"Calm down. We don't have enough evidence so we'll just buddy system from now on." Red states.
"Fine then." Orange grabs his neck.
"Can I buddy up with you?" Black asks staring into Reds green eyes with their own warm chocolate brown set.
Black ponders on that for a long time after returning to their bed, how mortifying to meet mortality here, how was the world supposed to depend on them if they couldn't even depend on each other? Perhaps it was just a one off thing, yes that would make sense. White probably just had an accident of some sort and Orange overreacted and jumped to the conclusion of murder. They go to sleep "Black get up!" Almost everyone has yelled to them today.
"Give me a break!" They yell back. Unlike the others they couldn't seem to throw themself back into work after that. It wasn't until the next day they surfaced out of their room again.
"I was worried!" Green whines with uncharacteristic dark circles underneath his bright eyes.
"I had to stop him from banging on your door several times in the middle of the night and drag him back to his room." Blue glares. “Anyways want some pizza?”
“We have pizza?” Black ask shocked in response. “How?”
“We founds some wayyyy back in the freezer, my eyes can spot anything.” She says with a smug look on her face. Black nods and heads off with their friends. Along the way they spot Yellow talking to Red out of the corner of their eye. They feel a spark of jealousy at how close the pair seems before they brush it off and forget. Biting into the pizza Black makes a face and blocks Green before he can bite into his.
“I think this is expired.” They spit it out into a nearby trash can. Blue laughs.
“No this is just astronaut food.” She pops the whole thing into her mouth in one go, although it’s a little square they packed a disgusting punch.
Blacks thoughts are proven wrong just 4 weeks later when Purple dies.
"So what now!" Orange screams in frustration. "Someone has to go for the safety of the world! Y'know what let's just group up. Black won't kill anyone that way now will they, since their boyfriend can’t stop it!” Chaos breaks out at the meeting table Blue, Green, and Red all coming to their defense while some like Yellow and Cyan are agreeing with Orange, while Brown just watches in stunned awe of the situation as it all goes down.
Black tries to be around Red and their friends more often after that, fearing what may happen if they leave their sides. Blacks in Medbay with their friends when they hear a clang overhead they fall over to catch a pipe that nearly hit Blues head “This is illegal I am having this ejected from the ship!” They shout.
“Black that’s a little bit overboard don’t you think?” Inquires Blue.
“Nope totally illegal.” They respond shaking their head and walking to the garbage regardless.
“Yeah, it’s illegal, Blue.” Green teases pumping his fist in the air. One day in the lower engine Red gets zapped by electricity and Black grabs Reds had and drags him to Medbay,
“Where are we going?” Red asks feeling like his arms about to get pulled of by Black. Even when a Black was so short they were speed walking faster than Red comfortablly could. When they arrive Black immediately, albeit clumsy, flings open drawers and cabinets before finding bandages when they get to bandaging Reds fingers they gets so upset they start to shake and brake down.
"Red," they say to him in near tears "what are we going to do?" They huff out starting to feel faint, falling against Red.
"We're gonna be safer, don't worry. I've got you." Red jumps in shock arms instinctively coming up around Black, he starts unconsciously rocking them in his arms, combing through Blacks long sleek black hair, twirling it with his calloused fingers soothingly. Black buries their face in his chest attempting to block out the overwhelming paranoia their temporary monochromatic home is causing.
Black is running, away from something, they don’t remember what but it’s gaining on them, they trip and fall a pair of teeth coming down at them and they waking up in a cold sweat. After that they don’t fall back asleep. They’re at the card swipe, when they get a tap on their shoulder. “Hey, buddy, are you ok? You’ve done that about thirty times.”
“No I haven’t been able to sleep maybe I could room with you for a little while?” They swipe their card again and groan, they couldn’t even manage it on the first try fully awake, how was a sleep deprived person meant to?
“Sure thing!” After awhile of this Green starts to push him to room with Blue. Black tends to turn into a cuddle monster when asleep with another person in the bed.
“Look Black,” Blue tells them one day. “We love you but we can’t do this all the time. It’s like waking up with an immovable octopus on me! Understand?”
“Yeah I understand.” Over the next few days they return to the dazed state they were in before they roomed with Blue and Green. They stare into the dark abyss of the computer that shut off after he downloaded a few things, snapping out of it when he sees the red blob reflected in the monitor.
“You need to sleep with me.” The reflection says. Their eyes widen and they look at the blob, their eyes taking a moment to adjust.
“What?” The blurry forms of the two Reds form into one.
“I saw how you slept with Green and Blue, I also overheard from Yellow that you haven’t been sleeping with them anymore and it looks like it’s hurting you, so sleep with me.” He says this while holding one of his hands behind his back.
“Ok.” They reply. Brain too tired to make much sense of what’s going on. He leads them to his bed and tucks them in before getting in himself. The next morning they wake up to the terrifying knowledge that they had cuddled Red in their sleep.
“Uh, I’m so sorry I should’ve warned you!” They say untangling them self from him and wriggling out of their blanket confines. Red just chuckles.
“It’s fine. I would’ve told you if you made me uncomfortable. Plus why would I sit there awake and be smiling at you if I didn’t like it.”
“You what!” They squeak, their face felt like lava at this point, so they turned away and hid their face in their hands.
They stay all stay huddled together over the next few months, practicing breathing down each other’s necks every minute of each day even, almost creating a humidity between them, as Black starts to get sick. The crew finds out Black is sick because one day Black sat on the smooth floor resting their head on their knees. “Whatcha doing black?” Blue asks picking up Blacks strange behavior.
“Nothing. The floor is just nice and cold.” They say, tracing the lines indicating where the pieces of material that make the floor come together.
“Alright.” Blue says and clearly doesn’t mean. She stays next to Black for the rest of the day until Black vomits in front of the whole crew creating a stain that would stay there on the floor permanently.
“Gross. It’s not stainless steal you know.” Says Orange. The rest of the crew just ignores him in favor of comforting Black or doing their tasks instead. They still do tasks but have to take breaks for Black who throws up almost everyday now, it seems like, so Black keeps some distance from the crew, near the wall at all times. It takes nearly a whole day to complete the crews tasks like this a but after awhile it just disappears, Black recovers and returns to their tasks amazingly without transferring their mystery illness to anyone.
One day both the comms and lights go out simultaneously so the group has no choice but to separate. Having some alone time for once Black relaxes their shoulders. Finally not feeling eyes on their back every moment. They take the time to stretch, reliving the pressure from a few joints and even dancing! At the end their body feels looser and they’re ready to go back to...whatever they were doing before this.
They guess they’ll just go to the meeting room and wait for everyone to regroup there. Hearing a disgustingly familiar scream from the hallway, upon walking to their destination Black changes their pace into a frantic run they ran as fast as they could, the world and objects surrounding them becoming nothing but a blur to them in their panic. At the end of the hallway is a crumpled up blue dot on the ground, with a tall Yellow figure leaving the scene, their mind freezes and they can't seem to comprehend what the thing is it until they get closer, it's Blue. They stare at Blues lifeless body before it shakes a bit, wait is Blue still alive! "Blue, wake up, I don't want to play right now. Blue?"
They touch Blues cheek only to find it growing colder. "Blue!" They screaming holding onto Blue, getting themself soaked in blood. They scream themself horse and the blood on themself is dry by the time Red finds them.
"Black." He sets his hand on Blacks arm. Black doesn't respond. "We have to report this Black. Come on, I know it's hard." He says helping Black up, Blues dried blood flaking off onto Reds uniform. Black leans into the contact and Red wraps an arm around their middle. At the meeting table their all very silent
“Who did this?” Green asks eyes glassy and voice wobbling wildly.
“Yellow.” Black chokes out. Tears rapidly dripping down their face.
“I can confirm I saw it as well.” Red lies. Yellow shoots someone in the room a betrayed look, shoulders raised, and eyes determined. everyone is too distraught to notice it or to who it was aimed towards.
“No! I didn’t do it! It was Red!” But the effort was futile, two beats one. Yellow flees. Scraping down the nearest hallway. The crew gives chase. Yellow knocks whatever she can to the ground around her.
She skids to a stop at the end of a hallway. Trapped. Her form is twisted now, midnight black patches in normally tan skin, black tentacles sprouting from some places in her body. The crew sends her kicking and screaming out of the garbage shoot. Black collapses into Red.
The pair slink back to Reds room. Red helps a tired Black wash themself and change their clothes together. Red wraps the softest blanket he owns around both of them and holds Black. Black cries into his suit. “It’s not fair!” Black sniffs.
“I know it’s not.” Red wipes runaway tears from Blacks face with his thumb. “We got her, ok? We’re safe now.” Black nods and closes their eyes trying to fall asleep in Reds embrace. Black is awoken by a touch to his shoulder. “I’ll be back I’ve gotta go do tasks.”
“Wha’ about the buddy system?” Black asks groggily.
“We’ve called them off now that we’ve gotten rid of Yellow. Love you.” Red says pushing up Blacks bangs and laying a kiss down on their forehead before he departs.
“Love you too.” Black says already half asleep pushing their face into their pillow.
The days ahead get better as Black learns they have a baby on the way. They create art and start placing it all over the ship, they also do more tasks again, hanging out with their crewmates and overall having a good time. “I wanna name it after her Red.” They say one day as Red hugs them from behind in electrical, resting his head on their shoulder.
“Yeah?” He replies chin moving against their warm body his stubble creating a ticklish sensation against their skin.
“Yeah.” Orange tries his hand at painting one day as well and hangs it up for all to see. Orange even calls a meeting for it
“I’ve called you all here to show you-” Orange starts before being interrupted by the door swinging open. Green strides in, late.
“I thought there were no kids here, do we have a tiny stowaway here?” Green says with eyebrows scrunched together in genuine confusion. Oranges jaw drops in offense at the comment.
“Do you not know good art when you see it!” He screeches prompting the whole room to burst into a fit of laughter. Not a single thing got accomplished that meeting and Orange left a little more humble than he was before. “Talent has left the building!” Orange says walking out, ego surely bruised, almost as if he couldn’t help it.
Near the end of their voyage when Black is round with their child Red comes to them. “I have something to tell you.”
“Yes?”
“I’m not human.”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m what a Yellow was.”
“Yes? Why are you telling me this.”
“Aren’t you scared.”
“No you haven’t killed anyone.”
“Ok.”
“What will happen to my body? We’re two different species?”
“It’s ok. We’ll make it safer. We’re going to my home planet anyways.”