Chapter Text
Olimar isn’t sure what to do with himself. He knows that what he’s even considering is wrong. If you’d asked him about the possibility of his mind wandering this way even months ago, he would’ve denied it to his dying day. It’s an insane idea. Olimar loves his wife, his family, and would do anything for them.
Yet it’s so incredibly lonely here. His first month stuck here was an insanely isolating experience. This time around, being sent here with a coworker provided at least a semblance of interaction. No longer was he completely alone, desolate on a treacherous planet. He would be lying if he said he didn’t miss any sort of physical contact, though. Unsurprisingly, being away from your wife will leave you touch-starved.
There’s even a feeling of their emotional connection withering, which drives Olimar up the wall. He’s based everything on his family - he does this all for them. His relationship growing strained is a reality he’d rather run from than confront, as cowardly as that was. Emails pouring in of his wife spending and losing their money, pleas from his children to come home.
He doesn’t hear much beyond that.
His company for this trip, Louie, doesn’t seem to be aware of… the minor trifles Olimar is having with his wife. Olimar supposes Louie could have snooped and read the emails, but if he did that he at least had the decency to not bring it up. Perhaps an uncharacteristic act of courtesy.
Not that Louie was entirely selfish. Olimar was sure anyone else who knew him would say that: hell, he was sure Louie would even say that. Maybe it was intentional naïveté on Olimars end to deny that, but he did genuinely feel that Louie wasn’t entirely selfish. There’s some things you only learn about someone when they’re the sole person with you. He’d watched Louie soften towards him over the course of this trip.
Initially not big things. Louie had started cooking Olimar more dishes - a nice gesture, but not anything huge. It was different when Olimar realized that Louie had been taking notes of what flavours Olimar liked and begun using them more. The kind of gesture that made Olimar feel more cared for than he had in the last couple months.
Louie didn’t talk very often. He expressed himself in different ways, whether it be a simple gesture or a note. Occasionally Olimar and Louie would have conversations wherein he would speak, then Louie would write something and pass it to him. Rinse and repeat. Olimar wasn’t sure when he began keeping the notes from the conversations. He’d justify it to himself as Louie having nice handwriting, but that wasn’t even true. Sloppy handwriting, really. Comforting.
Louie wasn’t one to partake in routines either, from what Olimar had gathered. Perhaps he just lacked any routines in his life previously. He never seemed to be able to adjust to waking up at the same time everyday (which the ship would constantly mention.) He didn’t seem to fall asleep at the same time at night. This in theory clashed with how Olimar operated: routines for everything.
All it actually meant was Louie would slowly adapt to his routines. Olimar couldn’t help but feel silently pleased when Louie would begin to wake up at the same time as him or brush his teeth with him. It was the kind of small routine you only develop when you live with someone.
Like a wife.
His wife isn’t here right now, though. Her emails are. Her emails full of increasingly tumultuous news.
Louie doesn’t ever have tumultuous news like that. He’s the same, day in and out. They go through increasingly strange situations, but Louie is always there. He’s become a fixture in Olimars day to day life. Sure, Louie has some strange quirks. He cooks peculiar meals and perpetually has an air of mystery around him. They’re quirks Olimar likes.
Quirks Olimar likes a little too much. He can’t stop himself from thinking of his wife, and then thinking about how Louie is different. It’s no good to feel this way, but the endless amount of time Olimar spends either with himself or Louie makes it impossible to stop thinking of Louie.
Olimar allows himself to have the physical contact he sorely missed with his wife with Louie. Not anything romantic. Just… little touches. Innocent, meaningless touches. A hand on the arm, a quick hug, hands quickly grazing past each other’s.
It’s all just platonic. It has to be. If it’s not, he can’t be there for his family. This has all been for nothing. It doesn’t mean anything that he closes his eyes and thinks of Louie, or that he desperately wants to allow himself to silently hold the man for an eternity. It’s nothing short of the passing thoughts of a lonely man.
He has to wonder if Louie ever looks into his actions the way Olimar looks into his. He finds it silly. Louie had more sense than to chase after a married man. Just like Olimar had more sense than to stray from his wife.
Perhaps Olimar is finally worn. He’s been going through with these horrifically stressful situations for what felt like an eternity now. There never seemed to be a moment of respite, a brief pause from the mutiny.
Louie is his respite, he realizes. Nights spent talking to him about the creatures he’s examined while Louie chimes in on how to prepare them for eating. Louie doesn’t seem to care for money, or even talks of money and work. When Olimar had briefly touched upon his issues with his wife taking his money, Louie couldn’t even fathom why someone would do that.
A response that made Olimar laugh. A response which almost made Olimar say he wished he married Louie instead. Just a joke! A very not serious joke. Just a little comment pointing out that Louie wouldn’t have taken his money, as opposed to his wife. Louie would probably make breakfast more often than his wife did. He’d probably be more into playing video games with his kids than his wife was, too.
He needed to stop making these comparisons. Or thinking of Louie within his home, an interloper within his family. His wandering daydreams of Louie living with him and his children were just a fantasy. A harmless fantasy which ultimately meant nothing.