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“…rion. Orion, wake up.”
Scrunching her eyebrows, the bluenette opened her eyes just a sliver to look at the one who woke her up from her slumber. The boy was eyeing her with clear disappointment as he tugged at the corner of her blanket.
“You overslept, again – for the 10 th time.”
“Give me a break, Rigel. I pulled an all-nighter trying to fix the compass. It was beeping like crazy last night.”
Orion said before pulling her blanket over her head again while her companion gave her a deadpan look. Rigel knew that he should just leave the girl alone, but they still had work to do. The diary wasn’t going to record itself and the mechanic arms were acting up again, needing their weekly repair. Not to mention the recently broken power generator. They were now one more generator short, depending solely on the last of the generators.
“No, and that’s final. Now get up. We got breakfast to eat before fixing those space arms you love so much.”
“Fine,” grumbled Orion as she slowly got up and out of her bed “anything you say, Rigel.”
Orion missed the fond smile her companion shot her way, too busy spewing nonsense about how Rigel resembled her mother and so on. The boy just shook his head, folded the blanket, and then headed to the kitchen where he knew the bluenette would be waiting with breakfast. Rigel spared a look at the vast space before him when passing a window and he had to admit, it was beautiful . The two of them had spent five years up here, looking out at the stars and somehow, they still found the scene breathtaking. Rigel for sure was going to miss this when the journey ended.
Before his thoughts could wander any further, Rigel spotted Orion’s face as she was poking her head out of the kitchen door, and she didn’t look impressed.
“You told me to hurry up and now look who is taking his time?” the girl mused “One more minute and I would have devoured your food. You’d better hurry, Mr. Proxy Mom.”
“Yeah yeah, like you can eat all this food by yourself. Who was the one crying about the portion being so big she couldn’t eat it again? Definitely not me – if I recall.” The brunette sang out teasingly, “Or did you suddenly gain a black hole for a stomach and now itching to show off?”
“Oh, shut up Rigel. Keep up the attitude and no girl will ever want to date you.”
“Haha, like there would be any girl wanting to go up here.” Rigel barked out with laughter “In fact, I doubt anyone would want to come up here, operating those giant space arms with you.”
“Hey! Those arms are cool – I’ll have you know!” Orion bit back facetiously as she stuffed herself full of food “It’s not every day you get to play claw machine at a grand-scale you know. Better enjoy them before you must go, right?”
The atmosphere was light as the two of them argued back and forth playfully, basking in each other’s company. They only had each other up here, among the stars and they wouldn’t have it any other way.
After the dishes were washed and the kitchen was sparkling again, Orion, the ever energetic one, skipped toward the airlock section in her spacesuit and repair tools box in hand.
“Ready when you are Ri!”
Rigel just smiled and started giving out orders to Orion on where to fix, occasionally joining her in humming outdated songs, and debating about the plots of some old manga. At some point, they just started naming stray stars in the distance and tried guessing what shape those stars mimicked, completely forgetting about the mechanic arms.
“I say they made up the shape of a bucket! Believe me on this!!”
“Nah-ah, definitely a spoon. You really need to get your eyes checked.”
“Are we even looking at the same location? And nope, last time I checked, my eyesight was perfect, thank you very much.”
“Yes, we’re looking at the same location according to the radar. And the last time you checked was five years ago. You sure you’re not going for another one?”
“Damn you, Ri! Just wait till I get my hands on you!”
“I’m not going anywhere. Come and get me if you can Ori.”
Rigel laughed as Orion refused to talk to him, deciding to carry on with her task. Now being left alone with his thoughts, the brunette allowed his eyes to take in every statistic being displayed on the screens. His eyes stopped at the oxygens level a tad bit longer before continuing down, dutifully checking everything.
“What a pain.” Rigel sighed, continuing down the numbers.
*****
Orion was annoyed with Rigel but not really. Over the years they had spent together, she had grown used to his antics, always out to rile her up and had a good laugh after. She found it unbearable at first, but now, it was endearing. It meant Rigel was still himself even after everything they had been through. His sarcastic tone and remarks were her alleviation.
Throwing a glance at the giant arms she was fixing, the bluenette could only count the days left for them on one of her hands. Those mechanic arms were old and rusty, damaged beyond helping and there was only so much she could do. Not like those arms were of any use now.
“Hey Ri, I’m all done out here. Let me inside.”
*****
Orion groaned as she pushed Rigel’s head away again, focusing on checking the life support system for any sign of breaking down. The air wasn’t being regulated like normal and the water was tinted a weird color. Fortunately, the air was still breathable.
“I never thought my workload would be increasing yet again.” Complained the girl “Rigel please make yourself useful and pass me the manual. I think I’ve read about this situation before.”
“Here you go shorty,” Rigel complied with her request, not failing to add his own remark “And we really should ask for a pay raise. They’re undervaluing my delish cooking and perfect notes.”
Orion snorted in response but said nothing. She did agree that she was seriously being underpaid though. Imagine having to fix nearly everything and still having the same salary as floating dust in space – Ridiculous!
After what felt like forever, the bluenette finally managed to patch up the machine.
“Welp, I did what I could. This will have to do for now.”
“I’m forever grateful, oh, great one. Now we can actually eat.” Rigel chimed, standing up to head over the kitchen “Remember to check in on the diary, ok? I’ll go prepare lunch.”
Orion nodded before grabbing the tablet, typing in the information she had observed for the day. It was day 1830 of the journey, and there wasn’t much she could write. Every day was the same: waking up, breakfast, checking the machines, lunch, some more checking, dinner, and finally sleeping. Admittedly, many more problems occurred this week alone than all past four years combined, Orion actually enjoyed the disruption in her mundane schedule. The first year up here, there were more people than just the two of them. It was a fun time, interacting with the older astronauts. But they all had to go away at some point, leaving the two of them here all alone. Going from a spacecraft full of people to just two teenagers in the span of a week, it was lonely and disheartening. Rigel had tried talking some sense into the elders but his words didn’t get through…
Shaking her head to rid herself of unnecessary thoughts, the girl finished off her report before placing the tablet back to its place.
“Guess I’ll head to lunch now. Rigel will start hollering for my presence in a few minutes anyway.”
*****
Rigel was humming to himself while waiting for his companion to arrive at the kitchen. From his own experience, the girl would be here in about one minute, all fuming and loading up with complaints about how hot the control room was or how she was reeking of smelly oily stuff. He didn’t mind, really. On the contrary, Rigel found it quite endearing, how she could keep being childish in every kind of situation they were put in. If people had told him five years ago that he would get along with a noisy and messy brat, he would have laughed at their statement. But here he was, taking care of and joking around with a big baby. A big baby with an equally big brain, but still a baby.
“Looking at your expression, there is about 10000000% chance of you dissing me in your head,” Orion spoke up from her place next to the door frame “knock it off.”
“Please don’t tell me you’re an esper now after being exposed to space too many times. I’m scared.”
“You don’t even try to deny you were dissing me, you little shit.”
“This little shit is older than you, big baby” Rigel laughed “And feeds you every day. Despite having a big brain, you can’t seem to care enough for food or a healthy lifestyle. How did you even land yourself this job?”
Orion pulled out a chair and sat herself down, reaching for the plate. “I didn’t apply for the job. The job found its way to me in the form of men in black in my living room. Imagine trying to find my cat after they left. Urgh!!”
Rigel let her ramble as they ate lunch. The noise itself was soothing to him. There was a time when Orion became eerily quiet and it was unnerving. Rigel liked it better when she was being her loud self.
“Speaking of which, do we have any more fixing to do? Or are we done for the day?” Orion asked
“I think we’re ok. You fixed practically everything after all.” Rigel shrugged, biting into his bread “We might have the rest of the day off. How about hot cocoa and stargazing then buddy?”
“Sounds like a plan then.” Orion nodded “I have nothing better to do anyway.”
They drifted into a comfortable silence after, content with just being in the other's presence. Tonight's plan seemed like it would be fun.
*****
“Tell me again why did you decide to do stargazing in my bedroom?” Orion groaned out, laying flat on her bed with Rigel sitting next to her. The boy was holding their drinks up, preventing them from spilling when the bluenette started waving her limbs around.
“Because you always fall asleep first and I can’t carry you all the way back from the control room. You’re heavy.”
“You take that back now! I’m not THAT heavy!!”
Rigel just ducked, all the while laughing at the girl. He truly loved it when she reacted like this. All puffed up and readied to throw some punches at him. But before Orion could hit him some more, the brunette pushed one of the cups in his hand into hers, halting the girl from swinging her arms at him.
“Stop moving around so much and drink your cocoa already. You’re just messing up your bed, even more, you know?”
“Fine! You’re off the hook thanks to the cocoa.”
“I know you love me too Ori. Even I fell in love with myself.”
“Bleh! Gross Ri! Please stop making me lose my appetite.”
“Uh-huh, keep the love coming. I’m soaking in it.”
At this point Orion decided to just give up and curled herself into the blanket with the mug in hand, minding to not let Rigel have any of the covers. If he wanted to be gross then he would have to do that alone, thank you very much.
Rigel smirked teasingly before leaning all of his weight onto Orion, making her his cushion. The girl for once didn’t protest and let him do as he pleased. They sat there quietly, gazing out at the window into the sea of darkness and twinkling lights before them. It was as beautiful as five years ago. Funny how time flew by and everything changed but the scenery.
After a while just looking out, Orion started.
“It felt like yesterday when we first looked out of the window, trying to catch a sight of a comet together. Our faces were all pressed up against the glass, looking weird as hell. Lisa was frowning at us so hard, it deformed her face.”
“Haha, I remember it alright. Can you believe it? She ruined her best feature.”
“After that, both Alan and Sam had to rescue us from her wrath. Poor men suffered in our stead. They told me it was ok, no need for apology but to this day I still feel guilty.” Orion sighed out “I never got to say thank you…”
“I miss them too Ori.” Rigel rubbed her back soothingly “Those days we spent with them were the good days. We didn’t have to mind many things, relying on the three adults so much. I kinda miss their head pats too.”
“The face you made when Alan first did it told a different story though. All scrunched up and mumbling profanities. For a 14-year-old, your slang repertoire was surprisingly broad.”
“Oh shut it. You were 13 and yours was twice as wide as mine. Where did you even learn all of those?”
“Not telling.”
They stopped and stared at each other for a second before bursting out laughing. They could keep this up for days, given a chance. Amidst all the laughter, the two teens temporarily forgot about everything, about how Earth had met its end just a few months after their departure, about how their crewmates had all left them one by one, deciding to end their lives to become part of the space dust. Their presence reassured the others that no matter how bad the situation got, they still had each other. All the episodes Orion had after the older three were gone, all the tears and insomnia Rigel powered through. They supported each other through it all. Four years was a long time but they enjoyed every second they had had.
“I really hope Lisa, Alan, and Sam enjoyed becoming part of the galaxy. They always went on and on about wanting to leave a part of them in space before kicking the bucket.” Orion wheezed out, whipping a single tear away.
“They must be enjoying it. Or they would be useless dust floating around. Totally not worth dying over I say.”
“Hmmm. I do hope they feel less lonely now. We did hold their funeral together after all. They’re out there together somewhere, eyeballing all the planets we didn’t get our hands on.”
“Lonely? Never knew you could say that world. And before you start throttling me, I felt more lonely back on Earth, before meeting you all.” Rigel boxed Orion in his arms, preventing her from hitting him “When I was a kid I’ve always yearned for the stars, curious about how it would feel living among the stars. Would it be busy trying to observe everything from the ship, would it be cool taking photos in space and then wait for months just to send them home. The thoughts always occupied my mind, making me zone out on almost everything. My friends didn’t like it so they just left me.”
“Some friends you had there.” Sarcastic dripped from the bluenette’s tone.
“Yeah, jokes on them. I actually landed a job working in space.” Rigel rested his chin on top of the girl’s head, rubbing it softly “Before meeting you all, I was a lonely kid who wanted nothing more than escaping Earth and hiding among the stars. But now that we’re here, it feels like anything but satisfaction. My old self would never have believed that I would one day miss going back to Earth.”
Orion gingerly took Rigel’s hands into hers, drawing small circles on his knuckles with her thumbs. She didn’t say anything, just casually leaning back further in his lap but that was all Rigel needed. Her presence.
“Do you find it ironic? Humans spent hundreds of years yearning for the stars, wanting to know what it feels like looking down from space. And they predicted a whole lot of scenarios too. Something along the line of feeling superior and a step toward conquering space. But now that we’re here, all I can feel is dashed hopes.”
“Quite ironic if I have to say. I was never a space maniac like you so I can’t say I understand all of your troubles. But the lonely part is where I get you. I too was a weirdo back on Earth. No one wanted to spend time with a brat always tinkering with machines and reading bioengineering. So when those men in black appeared out of nowhere and offered me the job, I took it with glee, desperate to escape my lonely world. Then I met you all. Making so many good memories and some not so good ones too. In the end, you’re still here by my side. That’s all I need.”
Rigel was rendered speechless. Orion was never this straightforward. But that didn’t mean he hated it. The girl never ceased to surprise him and he loved every second of it. There was no need for conversation between them anymore as they basked in each other's presence, lazily gazing at the stars. The beeping noise of machines turned out to be great background music.
*beep* Oxygen level 30%. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
After a while, both of them let out a big yawn, indicating that they needed their sleep.
*beep* Oxygen level 20%. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
“You should go back to your room Ri. It’s getting late.”
*beep* Oxygen level 10%. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
“You say that but look who is holding both of my hands hostage? You aren’t even moving to get off me at all.” Rigel mused, leaning his head on the girl’s shoulder. “Guess I’ll sleep here then.”
*beep* Oxygen level 0%. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
“Fine, make yourself at home then. Gotta say my bed is small so it’ll be uncomfortable.”
*beep* You have 3 minutes before your bodies run out of oxygen. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
“I don’t mind,” Rigel said, pulling his companion down and getting comfortable with her in his arms “You’re way too small I barely feel a thing. This bed is too big for just myself haha.”
*beep* You have 2 minutes before your bodies run out of oxygen. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
Orion shot him a dirty look, elbowing his side.
“Who was the one always commenting on my weight again? Choose one damn it.”
*beep* You have 1 minute before your bodies run out of oxygen. Please equip the spare oxygen masks before checking the life support system *beep*
“Definitely not me. I would never do such a horrible thing.” Rigel tightened his hold on her small frame.
*beep* Counting down till 0. Please check the life support system. 5... *beep*
Orion grumbled before getting comfortable with her position.
4
Rigel placed a kiss on the top of her head before closing his eyes, silently greeting the familiar darkness.
3
Orion smiled slightly before shutting her eyes too.
2
They tightened their hold on each other before whispering out
1
“Goodnight.”
0